Iowa State Falls in Series Finale to No. 16 Baylor

WACO, Texas – The No. 16 Baylor Bears were dominant Sunday at Getterman Stadium, restricting Iowa State to one hit en route to a 6-0 win. Baylor took the series 2-1 and improved to 34-12 overall, 8-4 in Big 12 play. Iowa State fell to 23-23, 2-10 in Big 12 play.

Iowa State's lone hit came in the top of the third on a Kelsey McFarland single. The Bears got ahead early with a four-run first inning and never looked back, as Heather Stearns led the way by striking out six Cyclones in 5.1 innings.

Baylor on Board Early
The Bears did not waste any time getting to Iowa State starter Brianna Weilbacher. Lead-off Kaitlyn Thumann rolled a double to the wall in right-center. After Lindsey Cargill moved her over with a sac fly, Ari Hawkins brought home the first run with an RBI-single to center. Weilbacher struggled for control, as an illegal pitch and wild pitch during Shelby Friudenberg's at-bat got Hawkins over to third before Friudenberg eventually drew the walk.

That was the end of Weilbacher's start, as ISU brought in Katie Johnson to try to clean things up. She got Sarah Smith to strike out for the second out, but Linsey Hays got to Johnson with a 3-run home run over the wall in left to get the Bears ahead 4-0.

Stearns Strong
Johnson settled down and was strong throughout the next few innings. However, the Iowa State offense struggled to support her efforts as, for the third-straight game, Heather Stearns got the start for Baylor. She was strong again, not allowing the Cyclones to get on base while she continued to pad her lead as the Big 12 leader in strikeouts.

The only hit the Cyclones were able to muster off Stearns came to lead off the third when Kelsey McFarland fired a shot back up the middle off Stearns' right knee, which ricocheted out of play and allowed McFarland on base. Nychole Antillon bunted her over to second, but that was as far as she could get as Stearns got the final two outs of the inning without any further problems.

Baylor Adds On
Baylor started the bottom of the fifth the same way the first started, with Thumann getting her second double of the game. After a Cargill single and advance put two in scoring position, Hawkins got her second RBI-single of the game to make it 5-0 Baylor. Two batters later, Caitlin Charlton flew out to center, but that was enough to bring home the speedy Cargill, in spite of a good throw by Brittany Gomez, to make it 6-0 Bears.

Streak Over
For the first time since the first game of Iowa State's doubleheader at Oklahoma on Apr. 4, Brittany Gomez was held without a hit. The Cyclone centerfielder went 0-for-3 on the day. She did reach base in the top of the sixth, but it was on a fielding error by Charlton at third base. Gomez had a career-high 13-game hit streak ended. It was the longest of her career and the fifth-longest in Iowa State history.

On Deck
Iowa State is back at the Cyclone Sports Complex on Wednesday for a doubleheader against Green Bay. First pitch between the Cyclones and Phoenix will be at 1 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Nychole Antillon

Brittany Gomez

Brittany Gomez

Katie Johnson

Katie Johnson

Kelsey McFarland

Brianna Weilbacher

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Iowa State University Athletics